Smithtown could lift development restrictions

Smithtown is considering whether to lift development restrictions along a section of Main Street that is protected by the state’s Wild, Scenic and Recreational Rivers Act.

The stretch of road is east of the bull statue at the intersection of Routes 25 and 25A and west of Edgewood Avenue.

Katie O’Shea Rivas, director of leasing and development at O’Shea Properties in Ronkonkoma, said her firm owns a vacant 1-acre parcel in the corridor and wants to develop it for a commercial use such as office space.

Rivas asked the town to apply to the state Department of Environmental Conservation for a “community designation,” which would permit development.

At a work session Wednesday morning, the town board agreed to have the planning department seek $20,000 to $30,000 in next year’s town budget to hire a consultant to seek the designation.

Supervisor Patrick Vecchio said he didn’t want to see the larger parcels overdeveloped. Planning director Frank DeRubeis said the town board would have to approve the application to the state.

Last year, the DEC issued two such community designations along the Peconic River in the Town of Riverhead.